


The Other Side of Happily Ever After

by alixandwrites



Category: Disney Princesses
Genre: Also yes everyone is gay, F/F, F/M, M/M, also pirates, because the authors are useless gays obsessed with pirates, happiness but it takes a minute to get there, i promise it’s only wholesome gays, when i tell you there are no cishet characters i mean it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29540241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alixandwrites/pseuds/alixandwrites
Summary: After Cinderella, no, after Ella is banished from her home kingdom on a ship, hoping to be saved by her prince, she spends months at sea only to be attacked by pirates and be recruited into their ranks. After four years at sea, Ella decides to return Rencolves.
Relationships: Aurora/Cinderella (Disney), Aurora/Cinderella/Ariel (Disney)





	The Other Side of Happily Ever After

**Author's Note:**

> warning for almost character death via hanging

A seemingly perfect year stripped away by a single wave of a magic stick. No one remembered, even Ella’s memories were covered in a thick magical haze. The Prince, the man Ella considered the love of her life, was put under a spell in order to fall in love with her sister and no matter what she tried to do, she couldn't break it. He and her sister got engaged and when she tried to stop it, and got caught, her stepmother sent her off to a different kingdom. 

It could be thought that Prince Charming would come and get her. Before the boat took off he would hop aboard and order them to turn it around. At least that's how it would be if this were the perfect story in the perfect world. Sadly, perfect only exists in dreams.

The Prince never came. Ella was shipped off to a land she didn't even know the name of and her stepmother had won. She had won the Royal status, she won the fame and riches, and she won the magic. It was over. No matter how bad the situation Ella was in, there would be no fairy godmother to help her. 

The trip from one kingdom to the other took over 4 months. It was not your local trade, it was official Royal business and she had no reason to be on that ship. Ella genuinely shouldn't have been there. But they couldn't refuse an order from the Queen’s family. So they kept Ella on board and put her to work.

Nothing that Ella wasn't used to, of course. Swabbing the deck, repairing sails, cooking meals, and preparing the laundry took up the majority of her time. She had lost all hope. She had tried to change her story but she was right back to where she started.

The royal ambassador was in charge of the ship and he was the only one on the ship who hadn't welcomed Ella aboard. Everyone else was sympathetic towards her, but the ambassador could not have cared less. He just wanted her to stop singing as she worked. He said that it made it hard for him to work. Ella understood that he's just trying to do his job, so she stopped.

It wasn't too long after that that the ship had been attacked by pirates. They killed everyone who stood against them.  Ella decided that she had had enough. She had to endure years of torment from her stepfamily and never said a word. And she was done.

The crew of Ella’s ship was lined up on the deck, awaiting their sentence from the pirate leader. “Anyone who dares talk back will be disposed of. If you’re good, we might just let you stay. It’s all up to you of course. Just do what we tell you and you get to live, simple enough innit?”

The other crewmates listened and shut up, putting their heads down. The distant screams from the ambassador could be heard from over the edge of the ship; his punishment for disobeying the pirates. Ella saw the cowardice displayed by the crew and felt the urge to roll her eyes, but then she remembered her own life once more. How her reaction to her stepmother was the same as theirs. The instinct to survive overruling anything else you want to say or do.

Too bad that instinct of Ella’s had been worn down until it was nothing but a sliver. “Oh please. You’re nothing but an overgrown catfish.”

The man surveying the crew stalked over to her. “What was that,” he eyed her up and down. “Shrimp.”

“You’re nothing but an overgrown catfish. With that stupid look on your face. You think you’re the biggest threat to us, you think you control our lives, when in fact there are hundreds of others who pose a bigger and more severe threat than you could even imagine.” He stared at Ella as she ranted. The longer she talked the more red his face became with anger.

“You want people to think you’re something other than what you are, so you make these big announcements and hold a sword to their throats hoping for validation from your captain or from them shown through the fear in their eyes. When really you’re just a sad little man who knows he has no other use.”

“You little bitch,” he raised his sword to strike her down and Ella closed her eyes and waited for the blow to hit. When it didn’t she peeked at the scene before her. The true captain of the ship held the man’s wrist away from her. 

“Not her,” he stated simply. The rude man snatched his arm back and angrily stomped back over to the sidelines. The captain then turned to Ella. “What is your name, my dear?”

Ella knew better than to tell him anything. She had been told of merciless pirates before. Her mother told her many tales of the various people she had met on her travels, before she had married Ella’s father, and pirates seemed to be a common theme with them. She had warned Ella time and time again not to tell her name to those who were not trustworthy. Pirates would be the most untrustworthy.

The captain took her silence as an answer and nodded. Then, turning back to his crew, said, “Take her back to the ship. Kill the rest.” 

The crew began yelling and crying for their lives to be spared, groveling at the pirates’ feet, but they were as merciless as one thought they should have been. Ella just stood there, eyes wide. Of all the times she should have been killed for speaking up, of all the time she was  _ expecting _ to be killed, it didn’t happen. The only thoughts on her mind now were of all the horrible things the captain would do to her once she was on the ship. She was kindly escorted over to the adjacent ship. When her feet touched the deck and she got a good look at the people surrounding her, a bucket and mop were shoved in her face. 

She wasn’t going to be killed, she got the feeling. But she was pushed back, yet again, to square one. When the sun had set and stars littered the sky and her back was aching from cleaning the deck, the captain called her to his cabin. This would be the moment she would die, of course. That was what her mind told her. She stood awkwardly in the doorway of the cabin, waiting for him to say some terrible thing to her and then she would leave and be killed before she could jump overboard.

“You know, you remind me of myself when I was younger,” he started. “You were betrayed by someone, were you not?” he sat at his desk, motioning for Ella to take the seat on the other side. She sat but still said nothing, only glared.

“Someone promised you something but couldn’t deliver. Leaving you to pick up the pieces. I understand, believe it or not.”

“I don’t believe it,” was what she finally said. “You don’t know what I’ve been through.”

“Of course not. I don’t know your life. I can only assume and guess based on my own experiences and the experiences of others. Although, I hope that eventually you will trust me enough to tell me what happened.”

“Why did you call me in here? I doubt it was to psychoanalyze me.” she snapped.

“Right, that was only a partial reason. I owe you an explanation, that’s why I called you in. On the other ship, when I spared your life, you were probably confused as to why I did it. Well, I told you. You remind me of myself from once upon a time. I know you just need an opportunity and you can do so many wonderful things. Gods know what my life would’ve been like if I was given an opportunity from the start. 

“So here’s my proposal, you can work here and make something of yourself, give yourself a name that strikes fear in the hearts of your enemies if that’s what you wish. Or we can let you off at the nearest port and you can tell the terrifying tale of how you were kidnapped by pirates and bravely escaped. Which will it be, dear?”

Ella thought for a moment. There wasn’t much left for her back on land or more specifically in Rencolves. She could try to get Prince Henry back, try to do… what would she do? The wedding had already taken place, it’s not like she would be willing to break up a marriage based on feelings that she didn’t even feel were real. Now that she had been gone for so long, everything that happened during the ball and the events after it, seemed too fantastical to comprehend. And whatever she felt at the time was not logical.

“Can I...can I think about it?” she was hesitant to entertain the idea, but her options were rather limited.

“Yes, of course. But I would advise making a decision quickly. The next port is the only port we’ll see for the next while. Once we pass it, there won’t be any turning back.” Ella nodded her understanding. He held his left hand out over the desk, “James,” he introduced himself finally. “But everyone calls me Hook.”

She took his hand and gave it a firm shake. “Ella.”

Hook had let her survive and  _ live _ . Not only did he let her live, but he taught her how. She learned that her happy ending didn't have to include a Prince and a castle and magic, she could make her own happiness anywhere, and any way she wished.

He taught her that what she felt for the Prince wasn't love. It was just the result of living in an abusive household for 10 years. The Prince had treated her with kindness, something that she had forgotten about. Ella had thought the crew of the last ship treated her with kindness. It turned out it was the same kindness the Prince had shown her. Kindness that's only present when you have a pretty face, a tiny waist. Kindness that’s only shown when they think that they can get something out of you. 

But the pirates showed no kindness of that sort. They made it painfully clear that they would kill Ella if she defied them. After the years aboard, she didn't have their kindness, she had their respect. They respected Ella as their first mate and wouldn’t even dream of defying  _ her _ . 

Hook taught Ella everything she knew about sailing, about being a pirate at all. He reminded Ella of her father. They were both noble, poised, and he treated her like family. That was how he treated everyone on the vessel. And just like her father, he made a promise. Not that he would come back, but that she could.

“We will always be here for you, Ella,” he had said. It was with sorrow in his eyes, and love in his heart that he let her go find a love that he himself didn’t believe had ever been real.

Ella had told him of her plans to go back to Rencolves and to get her Prince. And he never once tried to stop her or convince her otherwise. He just said that she would always be welcome back aboard his ship. 

And then Ella went back. Ella went back like the stupid, idiotic girl that she was, not fearing what would happen if she did. 

The ship sailed off and she stayed on the dock. Ella knew what would happen if she went into town. You see, seagulls are everywhere and they like to talk. They’re very loud, too. They had said that wanted posters with Ella’s face could be found on every wall, every market stall, every house in the town. With a very big number centered below it. 

Ella was wanted for crimes against the Crown and whoever turned her in would get a hefty reward. She knew that that was what happened when she awoke in the Palace dungeons.

It was damp and dark. The attic in the house she grew up in was damp and dark as well. But not like this. In the attic Ella was at the top of the world, she could see everything in front of her. The whole world at her feet, ready for her to explore. But the dungeon was below everything. She couldn’t see anything. The stone was cold on her back as she waited for morning to come. As she waited for death.

It would be quick and relatively painless. A hanging. Plain and simple. 

While down in the dungeon, Ella received an unexpected visitor. Anastasia approached her cell. Ella felt a surge of anger, as she pulled against the chains that kept her to the wall.

“Shhh!!” Anastasia waved her hands at her step-sister, before speaking in a whisper. “If Mother ever finds out I came down here,” she shook her head, looking to the ground by the hem of her dress, which was gathering dust. “there would be hell in store for both of us,”

"Then why are you down here?" Ella snapped, settling back down on the floor.

"I just want… I just wanted to tell you, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry," she looked genuinely sad. “I had never wanted any of this to happen. I just wanted someone to love me,” she sat down on the ground in front of Ella’s cell. She did so rather ungracefully, falling over at least once. Those hoop skirts are a pain. Ella didn’t miss them at all. “You know Mother,” Anastasia continued. “She likes to think she’s doing things for us, when she’s just doing it for herself. I said that I wanted a love like yours, I didn't want your actual love.” 

Ella chuckled at the irony of the statement. “Trust me, you don’t want the love I had with the prince. You deserve better,” She leaned back against the cell wall. 

“What do you mean? You always seemed so happy with him. You looked like you were in love.”

“I spent four years out at sea and you know what I learned, Anastasia?” she shook her head and leaned in closer.

“I’ve never felt romantic love. I don’t know if I ever will. I don’t even know the prince’s name, that’s not love, that’s breaking away from toxicity. Because of your mother and Drizella and you, I had forgotten what happiness was like, I forgot how love felt. So when the first person that I met showed me an ounce of kindness, I mistook it for love.”

“Wait, so all that time-”

“Was just me being happy, thinking I was in love. It wasn’t until I was living life at sea that I learned you can find happiness everywhere. Anywhere. You don’t need a prince to make you happy, you just need to know how to find it.”

Anastasia looked down at her ring finger, staring at the diamond adorning it. She slipped it off and held it out to Ella.

“What’s this?” She hesitated. Her hand went for the ring immediately, before retreating to the necklace around her neck..

“A symbol of my love. I treated you so horribly, even though you didn’t deserve it,” Anastasia’s voice froze, and she made eye contact with Ella for the first time that night, “and yet, you don’t get mad at me, you don’t raise your voice, you treat me the way I should have treated you. I don’t love the king either. But I love my family, and I will continue to live this life for them, to keep them happy. That’s where my happiness lies. I know that this doesn’t make up for the past, but take the ring as an apology, and a promise that from now on, I will treat everyone with the same kindness you’ve shown me.” 

Ella was slow to take the ring from her grasp and looked at it for a moment. Then removed the chain around her neck, strung it through the ring, and looked up at her sister. “I.. Thank you.”

Anastasia smiled back at Ella. Then looked away, panic painting her face as keys jangled from down the hall.

“I have to go,” she quickly rose and began walking away, before turning back and quickly whispering, “I’ll find a way to get you out of there,” Then she disappeared back into the darkness of the evening.

A guard had entered to put someone new into the cell next to Ella’s. 

“Who’s this?” She asked the guard. He didn’t answer.

“Are we really gonna do this, Mark? Come on, you know it’s me, Cinderella? No? Okay,” She turned away from him as he slammed the other cell door closed, locked it, and walked away. 

The person that Mark had brought in wore a long dark brown, somewhat purplish cloak, that covered their face. “What’s your story?” Ella asked.

They didn’t look at her, just faced the cell door but she could hear them muttering something under their breath, not being able to make it out. Soon, green smoke and- was that sparkles? What in the god's name is happening here? The smoke and sparkles started gravitating towards the door and it began to break off the wall. 

She could have dozed off, because the next thing Ella knew, it was morning, and Mark was at her door, yelling her to wake. It was time. As the guards entered her cell and cuffed her, she turned back to the other one. The cloaked person was still there, and she had no clue if the green smoke that had appeared last night was real or not.

“Nice talking to you,” Ella said to them.

“Shut up,” Mark snapped. She stuck her tongue out at him. He didn’t say anything back, just tugged on the chain that held the iron cuffs around her hands and ankles. What a pleasant way to go, she might have been thinking. No last meal, no good night's sleep. Just discomfort as they drag you to the gallows.

A crowd had gathered near the platform with the rope and the executioner on top, but parted like the Red Sea when Ella approached. It was a comforting thought to her that she wouldn’t be completely forgotten after death. Mark stood her atop the trap door that would soon drop, and promptly left. 

“Ella Tremaine,” the magistrate began. “You are tried with crimes against the crown, including-”

“Oh, I don’t need to hear the convoluted explanation of “The Queen’s mother doesn’t like me so she’s putting me to death” just get on with it so all of you can go to lunch. I know that’s all you’re waiting for anyway.”

He looked at Ella, then the executioner, then to Ella’s prince, or, the King. The King shrugged and waved slightly, saying to do what she had said and “just get on with it”. 

“You shall be hanged for your crimes. May God have mercy on your soul.”

The executioner wrapped the rope around her neck and tightened it just enough to make it uncomfortable. He stepped away. Ella made a glance at her sister and could see the tears she was holding back. She gave a small smile and nodded at Anastasia, letting her know that everything is going to be alright. Ella’s eyes shut and the next thing she knew, the lever was pulled and she was falling…..and yet, there’s no pain. No strangulation, no broken neck, nothing. Ella Tremaine. Just there, hanging. After opening her eyes, Ella saw the green, glittery smoke below her, circulating around her feet. 

She assumed what was happening was that it was acting as a stool, keeping her suspended in the air. Amongst the crowd, Ella saw the truly  _ iconic _ dark cloak of the other prisoner. It was impossible. Or, it should have been. The person wearing the cloak was in their cell only half an hour before.

Ella watched the figure behind the crowd, waiting. Nothing was  _ happening _ . Was Anastasia coming through with her promise? But Anastasia was right THERE. Next to her husband, her sister, and her mother. That narrowed them off the list.

The sparkling green below her feet was dwindling. Was this the point? To make her fear death longer than she should? Ella watched the particles swirl below her. They were familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on where she had seen them.

A murmur spread through the crowd. Some called “Witch!”, others ran, magic was rare, but not nearly as dangerous as everyone believed.

Ella was intrigued by the glitter, but she realized that her hands were feeling less stress and that sparked the realization that the ropes keeping her hand’s behind her back were unraveling. The guards didn’t seem to notice, but when Ella Tremaine slipped the noose that should have killed her over her head, and then fell into a bunch of floating green sparkles, the guards sure did.

And Ella remembered where she had seen green, sparkling, glittery particles. 


End file.
